When it is not busy seeing off her dogs, cats and visitors' vehicles, the pheasant has taken up residence outside her patio doors.

"We keep a big stick there so we can get in and out," she said.

Paul Stancliffe, from the ornithology trust, said: "It's the start of the breeding season so the pheasant sees everything as a threat.

"He's trying to get everyone and everything off his territory so he can install his harem.

"It's not entirely usual for pheasants to see off animals or chase vehicles. It's not unheard of, but he's perhaps taking things a little to the extreme."

Last spring a Shropshire family had a similar experience to Mrs Hamilton.

"Phil the angry pheasant" did not stop at attacks on their vehicles, however, and turned his attentions to a number of members of the family, forcing one of them to carry a badminton racket for self-defence.